7 Reasons to Leave Your Horse Barefoot…

Okay, last time we talked about why to shoe your horse.

 Since there are always to sides to a coin, we are now going to look at 7 reasons why to leave your horse barefoot.

 As you may well know, there are horsemen and women out there who avidly proclaim that it is unnatural to shoe a horse, and there are those that swear that shoeing a horse is the best thing you can do.

 The movement toward natural- or barefoot trimming is not just an American invention. People all over the world are looking into this direction and learning how to trim their horse’s feet themselves. There are several courses available and with patience and instruction, you too can get your horse sound and barefooted.

 At this point, I am not going to side with either one, I will just give reasons why not to shoe a horse, just as I gave reasons why to shoe a horse.

Here we go:

1. Your horse has excellent feet, they are hard, not chipped, cracked or too short
2. You don’t ride very often
3. The ground you ride on is not too abrasive
4. Your horse does well with boots
5. Your farrier is a good barefoot trimmer or you have a barefoot farrier in your neighborhood
6. Your horse has contracted heels and needs a ‘rest’
7. Your horse has problem feet and the chance to correct them naturally is greater than with special shoeing
8. And last but not least…horses naturally are barefoot…oops, that was nr. 8

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Next: A Case for Barefoot Trimming

 

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